Dan Martin has become only the second Irishman in history to win the Volta a Catalunya after his victory in Barcelona today.

Martin, who had led the race’s general classification since winning stage four on Thursday, finished at the front of the field today to cement is slender 17-second lead over Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha to win the seven-stage tour and follow in the footsteps of Sean Kelly, who won the Volta in 1984 and 1986.

The final stage, a 122km ride from El Vendrell to Barcelona which included eight passes over the category three Alt de Montjuic, was won by Belgium's Tomas de Gendt of Vacansoleil-DCM in a bunch sprint in a time of 2:45:42. Spain's David Lopez Garcia of Sky rolled home second.

The victory is the biggest of Martin's career to date

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